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Fresh Lime With Soda Or Water Please
I was thinking at the Race Course yesterday when ordering a fresh lime soda at the Bar, now my staple drink since I am completely off alcohol for a year, that this drink must have been coined in the early Raj times of clubbing. The word ‘Fresh’ before Lime and the query that comes after ‘Soda or Water?’ - sweet, salt or sweet/salt. I love hearing this exchange between the barman and guests. And I imagine in days gone by when it was Tea on a hot afternoon or cocktails how this refreshing drink evolved with guests - generally the Burra Sahibs wives all covered up in their gowns and hats cooling off! A touch of mint leaves adds to the flavour.
And of course whilst The Tollygunge Club, Saturday Club and Bengal Club still have this short exchange you have the special names given to the drink - ‘Pataki’ at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, The ‘Roychowdhury’ at the Calcutta Club (both given to me by my friend Gaurav Gupta!) and the ‘Vijifta’ at the Dalhousie Institute and Rangers Club. The Golf 
Club gives a version we used to get outside cinemas when we were young with plenty of masala (which we would guzzle down at the allotted 10 minute Interval – explosive and you have to watch that belch!) and the Vijifta has a softer alternative of an ice-cream soda or lemonade added to it.
As Clubs go through various phases this still is served for some reason in a glass beer mug. The wonderful thing about it is that it never changes and the Fresh Lime Soda remains one of the most refreshing drinks forever on a club menu. Thank goodness. That’s what the delight of clubbing is all about.
The other evening we were at the delightful and packed Bombay Brasserie Restaurant at the Quest Mall and I ordered a Fresh lime soda and it was served in what looked like a milk bottle with a lot of mint leaves and a straw. Not a bad innovation I thought!
And now that summer is around the corner for us there is just one more thing to add ‘ice – plenty of ice’! The above picture shows how you can add a kiwi or and fruit to the flavor. I'd still go for the original with plenty of rock salt, black salt and a pinch of chat masala.
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